


A Small Debacle

by elil



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Family Angst, Heavy Angst, Identity Reveal, Medical Conditions, beans talking out their issues with their WORDS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 12:29:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20097259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elil/pseuds/elil
Summary: After a couple thwarted akuma, Hawk Moth decides to simply ask Ladybug and Chat Noir for their Miraculous.





	A Small Debacle

Gabriel Agreste quickly realized that while his plan may work--eventually--the new Chat Noir and Ladybug were frustratingly competent. Or at the very least, frustratingly lucky, which was almost worse. He let out a sigh as the Bubbler’s akuma was purged, shutting the window and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Nooroo drifted up, eyes purple specks in the dark room. “Master?”

“Nooroo,” he replied.

“Are you okay?”

An interesting question. He supposed, in the grand scheme of things, he was fine. “Yes.”

The kwami narrowed his eyes, a hesitant pause before, “I’m sure you’ll succeed in time.”

“Of course,” Gabriel said. He turned and pushed the hidden door open, Nooroo slipping into his jacket. He paused to look at Emilie’s picture, raising a hand towards it before balling it into a fist and letting out another sigh.

He needed a different approach. The more he fought them, the stronger they would grow, and he had better things to do with his life than fight children over powers they could scarcely comprehend. He’d give it maybe one, two more akuma, then… think of something.

* * *

Nooroo rarely talked back. 

That said, Gabriel could hardly blame him when the kwami, pressing his tiny hands together, said, “Master. That’s a pigeon.”

“Wings. Ascending. Darkly. Now.”

Nooroo disappeared into the brooch, Hawk Moth glancing from his hiding spot behind a foot of the Eiffel Tower. No one seemed to have noticed, and he scrambled up it, feeling more than a little foolish. Still, he eventually reached a top platform, placing his back against the lattice. Wind barely nudged him and he still had to take a steadying breath.

Finally he pulled a butterfly from his jacket, hastily infusing it and sending it off. He only had to wait a few minutes before he felt it melt into its chosen item. Emotion flooded him and he sifted through it.

Perhaps he had not thought this through. What if the pigeons all ran amok? Adrien would be _miserable_… ah, well, he had only brief plans with this akuma.

“I,” Hawk Moth said. “Will grant you the power to create all the birdseed you want, Mr. Pigeon.”

He sensed a wave of disappointment and ignored it. “In return, you will wait at the bench so I can speak to Chat Noir and Ladybug.”

Mr. Pigeon, already draped in no less than ten birds, cooed a faint noise of confirmation before sitting down and summoning a bag of birdseed.

Apparently, having your super-villain only occasionally cackle and throw birdseed at people led to a slow response time. Nearly fifteen minutes passed before Ladybug barreled into the flock of pigeons, scattering them. Chat Noir perched on a lamppost, a hand held up in disgust as the birds fluttered by, then circled back at Mr. Pigeon’s whistle. Ladybug called to him and he responded with a sneeze. What he allergic? That was surprisingly endearing.

“Tell them I wish to speak with them at the Eiffel Tower,” Hawk Moth said. 

Mr. Pigeon did so, Ladybug staring incredulously. “What, so you can lure us into a trap?”

“Ridiculous. I have better trap planning skills than that.” Mr. Pigeon glanced over to Chat Noir, who was currently in a staring contest with a bird. His sniffling suggested he was about to lose.

“And if we don’t come?”

Ugh. “I do not wish to threaten you. I wish to talk.” 

A small huff, Ladybug shooing the pigeon away and beckoning Chat Noir down. The two whispered, gestured, shot looks at Mr. Pigeon before whispering again.

“Only after we’ve deevilized him,” Ladybug said.

Reasonable enough. He willed the akuma to leave its host and it fluttered into the air. Ladybug blinked before catching it in her yoyo, a pure white butterfly emerging. It narrowly avoided a pigeon as it flew away.

* * *

He sent an uncharged akuma down to the ground of the Tower. He did not have to wait long for it to return, Ladybug and Chat Noir close behind. They remained by the edge, apparently unbothered by the many hundred foot drop behind them. Ah, youth.

“We’re here,” Ladybug said. “What do you want?”

“No pleasantries? Fair enough, Ladybug. I want both of your Miracu- hear me out,” he said, raising a hand as they both raised their… as Chat Noir raised his weapon and Ladybug held up a yoyo.

“We’re listening,” Chat Noir said.

“The Miraculous you wield. Are you aware of their potential?” Neither responded, which he felt said enough. “When used together, they are capable of extraordinary things.”

“All the more reason to keep it from you,” Ladybug said.

He nodded slightly. “A reasonable conclusion. My hope, however, is that you will be sympathetic to my wishes. I want your Miraculous so I may revive my wife.”

There was an extremely long pause, finally broken by Chat Noir chuckling. “That’s ridiculous. From the dead?”

He decided to ignore that last part. “How so? Surely the idea of kwami is ridiculous, but here we are. Ladybug, your Miraculous is life. Even so new to it, you must be able to sense its potential.”

Ladybug lowered her yoyo. “I…”

“He could be lying,” Chat Noir said. “Why would he need mine, then?”

The softness in her eyes steeled again.

“They balance each other,” Hawk Moth said. “And bring out the greatest of the others capabilities.”

“You could still be lying about your intentions,” Chat Noir said. 

He sighed, tapping his staff on the ground. “I could be. I can only insist that I am not. She… gods. She was the most loving woman in the world, a mother I wish hadn’t been stolen away from her son. She was always so stubborn, though… she’d do anything to help someone in need. To dramatics, if I’m being honest, but I wouldn’t have her any other way. I just… please. Ladybug. Chat Noir. Surely you’d prefer your lives going back to normal. That is all I want as well.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir turned their backs to him, whispering again. He summoned all the patience he could.

“- tell us?”

“- dangerous-”

Lowered voices and more whispering. After what felt like an age, they turned back towards him.

“We’ll consider helping you,” Ladybug said. Holy shit. They would? He should have started with this!

“On one condition,” Chat Noir said, and Hawk Moth shook his head a bit to focus. “You give us your Miraculous. Now.”

Hawk Moth hesitated. “Ah. I see. But that would-”

“We want to know who we’re giving ours to,” Ladybug said. “Just in case.”

They were, he reminded himself, children. Even if they weren’t, who would believe their story if they chose to reveal him? No one. “And you will give me yours now?”

“No. We’ll deliver them to you,” Chat Noir said. A grin. “And help you down from here, of course.”

“Charming,” Hawk Moth said, smiling faintly. Were they lying? Would they change their mind? If he lost Nooroo he would have no way of pursuing them. If they weren’t, though… “Alright. I agree to your terms.”

They both stared with big eyes as he removed he brooch and held it out to them, Nooroo glancing between them nervously. Chat Noir reached for his ring then stopped himself, swallowing thickly.

“I’m such a huge fan of your work,” Ladybug whispered suddenly. 

His- oh. Oh! “Thank you, Ladybug,” Gabriel said. She finally held out a hand and he pressed the Miraculous into her palm. 

“We’ll help you,” Chat Noir whispered. 

“Delightful. Do you need my addr-” they both shook their heads. “Then it has been a pleasure.”

* * *

A few days later, a small brown package sat at his doorstep. Gabriel beamed, doing his best to compose himself as he picked it up and headed to his study. It took all of his self control to not simply rip it open.

There, nestled in two plain boxes, were the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm elil and I write 99% Hollow Knight content and 1% Miraculous Ladybug content. The consistency is in the bugs!


End file.
